Here are a few tips and suggestions to help you successfully raise day old chicks through to maturity.

Warmth

Chicks must be kept warm by using a light, heat plate or infrared globe. An old fashioned incandescent 60 watt bulb can work just fine but it is important to use a securely held ceramic holder due to the heat produced and resulting fire risk. We sell heat lamp holders, bulbs and heat plates as well as complete brooder kits. Use a box that is big enough so there is a warm end and a cool end. Adjust your heat according to the distribution of the chicks in the brooder.

Baby chicks must remain under a light or heat source until approximately 5 weeks old then you can start weaning them off the light by having it turned on during the night and off during the day. Do this for a week then you can leave the light off permanently but still keeping them indoors. At this point you can start putting your chicks outside during the day and bringing them inside at night. Your chicks can start staying outside permanently when they are about 6 weeks old. In winter you will have to keep the chicks indoors until they are fully feathered. Chicks are susceptible to drafts so you need to make sure they have place that is warm, cosy and out of the wind. 

If you have a committed broody hen, you can introduce chicks to her (as long as the chick is under 7 days old) and she may do the keeping warm job for you. Chicks are best introduced at night under then hen’s wing. It is important that the hen is settled into the space where she can raise the chicks safely and teach them about food and water. Broody hens do not lay eggs and therefore broody and chicks can eat medicated chick starter. Hens that lay eggs should not eat medicated feeds within 2 weeks of laying eggs.

Fresh Water

Clean water must always be available for your chicks. You must keep checking the water throughout the day as chicks are very messy and always kick their bedding into the water. To help avoid this we recommend you put something under the container of water to keep it off the ground but at the same time keeping it low enough the chicks can still drink from it.

Correct Food

Young chicks are prone to ‘coccidiosis’ which causes diarrhoea and death. It is best if you only feed your baby chickens a medicated chick starter crumble as this allows them to build immunity against coccidiosis. The chicks must stay on this until they are about 6-8 weeks old then they go onto another medicated food called ‘chick grower crumble’. Keep feeding them this grower crumble for another 6-8 weeks. When they are 16 weeks old you can feed them normal laying mash. The medicated feed you give them in the beginning provides them with all the correct amount of protein they need. The calcium level of layer feed is too high for growing babies so you need to keep the chicks separate from layers until they are about 16 weeks old and then they should be able to look after themselves with the larger chickens. DO NOT feed medicated chick food to adult birds laying eggs for human consumption.

Health

Chicks grow very quickly but like all birds, are very susceptible to sickness. If your chicks are doing bloody poos you need to get medication for them for coccidiosis ASAP or they can pass very quickly.

If you are concerned about your baby chicks’ behaviour or health consult your veterinarian.

Small chicks can be preyed on by wild birds or rats and need a secure space to grow.